Co-writers of Gryffindor House: Anurag, Danielle, Khushi Kapoor, Khushi Magiwala, Natasha, Shawnna

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She awoke in the darkness, her mind alert and her body inert. A mandolin played in the distance, its melody sickly sweet. Entranced yet tenacious, she attempted to hoist herself up, despite being weak from her strenuous journey. She grappled for a cranny, a root on the parched earth beneath, a firm rock, anything to support her deadweight form. The melody of the mandolin engulfed her, coaxing her back into her slumber, as a voice within urged her to fight on. Fight on… fi...finals week. Hastily, she sat up straight in her bed and pulled her blankets over her, completely submerging her whole body into the mattress except her face. The nightmares had returned.

Sighing, she arose and closed her door to ignore the sound of the mandolin still playing on. Upon turning on the lights, she looked at herself in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes taunted her as she stood and stared at herself, thinking about what was to come. Suddenly, she spotted a dark figure behind her. Her vision became blurry and she felt a dark energy swarming around her body. She tried to move, but it felt like she was paralyzed. She screamed for help, but nobody listened. Her lifeless body dropped to the ground as the dark figure dissolved and disappeared into nothing.

Slowing, but painfully, she propped herself onto her elbow. Vision still hazy, the mysterious room swirled around her. She was able to regain focus as her eyes met a vivid painting. It displayed a young boy wearing a royal blue and black robe walking up the stairs to an empty throne surrounded by feathers and sticks. The shadows on the back of the wall showed monsters she remembered from her nightmares. Shadowy creatures that stemmed from the depths of her imagination. But how could an illusion seem so real? It was as if the thoughts she had locked away in the back of her mind were resurfacing on their own. Was she awake or dreaming? It felt as if she was trapped within a self made cage, but she had no idea why. Frozen in fear she sat there soaking in her surroundings.

Crunch, crunch, crunch! Footsteps slowly approached her from behind. Shaking, she willed herself to turn around, but terror kept her still. A cold breath pulsed on the back of her neck, and a scream shocked her into silence while she waited for the worst. Tears began to form in her eyes as she gained the will to clench her fists. Sucking in a slow, deep breath, her courage grew enough for her to begin slowly turning her head around. She blinked away the tears to see over her shoulder. Gasp! There was absolutely nothing there. How was this possible? she thought to herself as she nervously bit her lips. A ghastly breeze paralyzed her, and she fell to the floor, shielding her body with nothing but her bare arms. Tears formed again near the edge of her fear-filled eyes as she accepted the worst possible fate. Crunch. Crunch. The same footsteps were echoing around the darkness, getting louder and louder as the time passed. She knew that whatever it was, it was making its way to her defenseless self. Suddenly, everything went quiet. So quiet that she heard her tear drop hit the floor. She brought every power inside her to get up slowly and looked forward. “It was nothing,” she assumed and closed her eyes to take a deep breath.

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner.